NRK Music, UK house label, released material and compilations from artists such as Peace Division, Nick Holder, Miguel Migs, Skylark, Chymera, Hipp-e, Trackheadz, Paul Woolford, Joey negro, Magik Johnson, Audio Soul Project, Rolando, X-Press 2, Louie Vega, Kerri Chandler, Quentin Harris, Ron Trent, Karizma, Ame, Ian Pooley, Francois K, Charles Webster & many more
Strobelight Ltd, the parent company of NRK Music, welcomes a new label to the family. Leviathan Sounds is the new imprint from up and coming producer, Admiral, and specialises in some pretty out there tech house sounds and raw club cuts. Admiral opens the label account with his 'Scorpio Rising' EP, already picking up favourable comment from the likes of Laurent Garnier, Dinky, Kris Wadsworth and more.
'Scorpio Rising' EP will be released on Beatport on January 23rd, followed two weeks later on all other digital sites including Whatpeoopleplay, Juno, Traxsource and iTunes.
Kris Wadsworth makes a welcome return to the house music scene after a few months off. And he returns to NRK Music after 2009's stellar "Direct"/"Full Body" EP that came out with David Alvarado and Nick Harris remixes.
So, back at the helm for Wadsworth, and his latest release, we are glad to say, includes all those ingredients that make up his inimitable sound. Raw, swinging, edgy tech house, made with minimum of fuss but maximum groove. Two new tracks then from Kris, "You Called" and "Crushed", and ably assisting on remix duties is the ultra hot Chicago producer Tevo Howard, and NRK's Nick Harris.
"You Called" is a melodic builder, perfect warm up or late night tackle, with it's nagging bass hits, solid drum programming and floating chimes and keys. Nick Harris follows up recent remix work for Nite Grooves and Moodmusic with a solid remix that retains the original's melodic touches.
"Crushed" is a darker slice of house, with a murky and reverberating production, with it's tough and stripped back drums, enveloping pads and pitch bending keys, Wadsworth creates some great warehouse vibes here.
Kris Wadsworth makes a welcome return to the house music scene after a few months off. And he returns to NRK Music after 2009's stellar "Direct"/"Full Body" EP that came out with David Alvarado and Nick Harris remixes.
So, back at the helm for Wadsworth, and his latest release, we are glad to say, includes all those ingredients that make up his inimitable sound. Raw, swinging, edgy tech house, made with minimum of fuss but maximum groove. Two new tracks then from Kris, "You Called" and "Crushed", and ably assisting on remix duties is the ultra hot Chicago producer Tevo Howard, and NRK's Nick Harris.
"You Called" is a melodic builder, perfect warm up or late night tackle, with it's nagging bass hits, solid drum programming and floating chimes and keys. Nick Harris follows up recent remix work for Nite Grooves and Moodmusic with a solid remix that retains the original's melodic touches. "Crushed" is a darker slice of house, with a murky and reverberating production, with it's tough and stripped back drums, enveloping pads and pitch bending keys, Wadsworth creates some great warehouse vibes here. On the remix of "Crushed" Tevo Howard shows just why he's hot property right now, with a superb acid laced remix that keeps the shuffling rhythm of Kris' Original Mix and just lets the groove run. Howard has been responsible for some great music and remixes for Rush Hour, Rebirth and his own Beautiful Granville Records label, and is keeping the true house spirit alive in his productions.
"You Called"/"Crushed" gets a release on 12" vinyl and digital download in November.
The Classic NRK imprint delivers the third episode of its Deep Sensation mixes this October, with long-time A&R Nick Harris mixing up a selection of the labels singles output on one cd and a selection of unmixed highlights on another.
After a short break from releasing singles, label boss Harris revived the label’s 12” operations just over 12 months ago and has seen the label live up to it’s legendary history with tracks and mixes from the likes of Steve Bug, Kris Wadsworth, Spencer Parker, DJ Q and AlexKid – all featured here.
Harris himself has stepped out from behind the turntables and A&R desk in recent times, delivering a string of 12”s which have caught the imagination of a staggering list of DJs, from new blood like Seth Troxler through to veterans like Tedd Patterson. His tracks stand out from the crowd and this mix does the same, as good a sign as any that this music industry veteran is paradoxically one of the brightest new talents around.
Just as Carl Craig did with his epic RA Podcast earlier this year, Harris kicks off with Justin Drake’s remix of Amir’s ‘Narrativity’ and the mix takes hold immediately. Shifting through the bumping drums of Kruse & Nuernberg’s remix of Scope’s “This Rhythm” into the 3am trip that is Chris Lattner’s remix of Lewis Boardman, it’s evident from the off that groove rules but melody and texture more than ably assist.
From the darker edges of ultra-modern stripped house such as Amir’s “Anekdote” to the overtly old school sounds of DJ Q’s relentless ‘Superclique’ (allowed to stretch it’s legs for a full ten minutes, here), Deep Sensation III is a superbly executed snapshot of house music, culminating in the epic Paul Woolford remix of Shara Nelson and NuFrequencies “Go That Deep”.
Nick Harris, NRK and all of the artists showcased in Deep Sensation III are deserved of high praise, as no part of this label compilation falls short of excellent.
CD01 MIXED BY NICK HARRIS
01. Amir - Narrativity (Justin Drake Remix) 02. Scope - This Rhythm (feat. Sandra Lima) (Kruse & Nuernberg Remix) 03. Lewis Boardman – Mist (Chris Lattner Remix) 04. David Durango – Supernature (Matthew Styles Remix) 05. Nick Harris – Pony Trekkin 06. Spencer Parker – You Got Me 07. Amir – Anekdote 08. Alexkid & Rodriguez Jr. – Jeri Call 09. DJ Q – Superclique 10. Kruse & Nuernberg – Mirrorball 11. Scope – Frequencies (Steve Bug Flying Faders Remix) 12. Kris Wadsworth – Direct (David Alvarado Remix) 13. Ed Davenport – Overdub In Am 14. NUfrequency feat. Shara Nelson – Go That Deep (Paul Woolford Main Mix)
CD02 DJ FRIENDLY UNMIXED SELECTION
01. Nick Harris – Pony Trekkin 02. David Durango – Supernature (Matthew Styles Remix) 03. Scope – Frequencies (Steve Bug Flying Faders Remix) 04. Lewis Boardman – Mist (Chris Lattner Remix) 05. Scope - This Rhythm (feat. Sandra Lima) (Kruse & Nuernberg Remix) 06. Kris Wadsworth – Direct (David Alvarado Remix) 07. Kruse & Nuernberg – Mirrorball 08. Amir - Narrativity (Justin Drake Remix) 09. NUfrequency feat. Shara Nelson – Go That Deep (Paul Woolford Main Mix) 10. DJ Q – Superclique
Deep Sensation 3 is out on double CD and digital download as from October 25th
2009 was a testing time for NRK, with the label having to downsize and restructure itself, and so the year started slowley, with those involved taking some time to reorganise and evaluate the future of the label. However, you can't keep an old dog down for too long, and the label fired out a serious contender for "compilation of the year".
Planned in 2008 and finally released in April 09, Loco Dice, the infamous DC10 resident and doyen of deep grooves, compiled and mixed the first in NRK's new mix CD series, The Lab. Designed to let the selector experiment with music, the Lab 01 found Loco Dice rejuvinate his love of pure deep house, and so his double CD spanned the more techno orientated sounds that he is know for as well as some classic deep house sounds from the likes of Nick Holder, 95 North, Tyree Cooper and many more. The Lab 01 was a great success, Loco Dice scooping the front cover of British dance bible iDJ, and the album appearing in the Resident Advisor Top 20 compilations of 2009.
September of this year saw The Lab reappear, this time with fellow German-based DJ/producer Steve Bug at the helm. Notorious for his labels Poker Flat and Dessous, Bug mixed up a double CD delight for The Lab, again pushing the sound towards the deeper end of the spectrum, as Loco Dice did. Choice cuts from MCDE, DJ Koze, H.O.S.H, Ben Klock and Joris Voorn made this compilation a must have for lovers of the deep tech groove.
Back In The Box also carried the torch for retrospective compilations, this time it was Chi-town legend DJ Sneak who got to ransack his record collection, all in the name of creating a mix that will drag you down memory lane to some of house music's most memorable years. Sneak literally slayed the turntables on this double mix, including blinding tunes from the likes of Daft Punk, Ian Pooley, Cajmere, Bob Sinclar, Cricco Castelli and Global Communications. Sneak showed us a masterclass in jackin, boompety house, with flawless mixing and tune selection.
And Belgium's Spirit Catcher offered us a brilliant mix in (the last of) the Coast2Coast series. A superb, contemporary mix of great electronic dance, Spirit Catcher selected great music from the likes of Carl Craig, Johnny D, Jerome Sydenham, Matthias Tanzmann and Motorcitysoul.
NRK got back on the singles racks in September of 09, after an absence of a year, with new singles by Scope (including a massive Kruse & Nuernberg remix), David Durango (with Tony Lionni and NRK's Nick Harris on the mix), Spencer Parker and a new single from Detroit's Kris Wadsworth (enlisting David Alvarado and Nick Harris for remix duties).
David Alvarado, the LA based house veteran, makes a welcome return to the music scene this month with a remix of Kris Wadsworth's "Direct". Alvarado has been a long time associate of NRK Music, and released the ultra deep mini album, "Transiguration" on the label back in 2004.
David has been a consistent favourite on the house scene since his early productions for Strictly Rhythm, Groove On, Yoshi Toshi and Ovum in the 90s, as well as productions for legendary labels such as Peacefrog, Guidance and Plastic City. Recent years has seen David taking a back seat from the wheels of music production, but it is hoped that his remix here for NRK will spark the flames of musicality for more productions to come out over the next year.
His remix of Kris Wadsworth's "Direct" is in classic Alvarado style, heavy tribal beats, dubby reverberations, trippy deepness, and dense and engaging production. His remix is already picking up support from the likes of Dixon,Rocky (X-Press 2), Paul Woolford and Jay Tripwire.
Wadsworth's new EP comprises two tracks, "Direct" and "Full Body", both treading similar paths of stripped back, raw house tracks. Bleepy yet with plenty of deepness, it's refreshing to see a producer out there not following suit, but producing an individual sound. Certainly these tracks are intended for those who like their house deeper than the black hole!
The package is completed by a remix from NRK's Nick Harris, who neatly moulds "Full Body" into a more club firendlier version, utilizing some of the original's chords and bleeps and turning out a solid, hypnotic rework.
Kris Wadsworth "Direct"/"Full Body" is released on 30th November as a digital EP, with the vinyl release concentrating on Alvarado's remix of "Direct" and the original Wadsworth version.
Kris Wadsworth, an artist who has had an incredible year to date, with releases and remixes on labels like Poker Flat, Hypercolour, Dark Energy and Fresh Meat, showcases two fresh new tracks on NRK Music next month.
Renowned for his "back to basics" approach of house, prefering the raw and gritty sounds of yesteryear to the somewhat sleeker production sounds of the current crop, Detroit based Wadsworth drops two tracks in his own inimitable style.
The new EP comprises two tracks, "Direct" and "Full Body", both treading similar paths of stripped back, raw house tracks. Bleepy yet with plenty of deepness, it's refreshing to see a producer out there not following suit, but producing an individual sound. Certainly these tracks are intended for those who like their house deeper than the black hole!
Kris Wadsworth "Direct"/"Full Body" gets a release on 2nd November with remixes.
